It’s been over 20 years since Metallica first collaborated with the San Francisco Symphony on their cheekily titled live album S&M. At the time, the pairing of a metal band with an orchestra was still something of a novel idea, and as mixed as its reception may have been, it arguably stands as one of the definitive symphonic rock albums of all time, alongside Deep Purple’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra.
In the decades since S&M’s release, the rock world has seen live symphonic offerings from Dream Theater, Kiss, the Scorpions, and Aerosmith, among others. As such, S&M2 feels, like many sequels, less essential than the original, but not just because the concept has run its course. Recorded during a concert in September of 2019, the album’s setlist is similar to that of its predecessor, as are most of the orchestral arrangements. One can’t help but wonder what string-laced versions of classics like “Harvester of Sorrow,” “Creeping Death,” “Welcome Home (Sanitarium),” and “Fade to Black” might have sounded like.
Taken on its own merits, though, S&M2 is a largely thrilling experience. As live performers, the band is as tight as ever here, and frontman James Hetfield’s trademark grit-choked growl remains intact throughout the album, only occasionally veering into the tuneless yodel that marred many of the band’s gigs in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
Heavy metal has always been about more than just raw aggression, and Metallica’s best work plays on light and shade, sturm und drang. Admittedly, the orchestral parts on some of these songs are less imaginative during the faster, thrashier sections, which occasionally resemble chase music in an action film. But when Metallica scales back, opting for ominous slow burn as opposed to full-throttle attack, the strings and horns wash into the foreground, enveloping the drums and guitars with electrifying countermelodies.
Most of the songs here that didn’t appear on the first S&M are from the band’s less impressive recent output, and though competently performed, they aren’t necessarily the best suited to an orchestral backing, nor do they offer much in the way of interesting arrangements. Still, there are some surprises: a cover of early Soviet composer Alexander Mosolov’s “The Iron Foundry”; an acoustic take on the otherwise pummeling deep cut “All Within My Hands”; and the ballad “The Unforgiven III,” which finds Hetfield backed by the orchestra alone.
Perhaps most enthralling, and most emblematic of the set, is a solo spot by symphony bassist Scott Pingel, who performs the late Cliff Burton’s solo piece “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)” in its entirety, replete with layers of electric distortion. Burton was a classical music aficionado, and was said to have introduced elements like harmony and sophistication into Metallica’s early no-frills thrash. S&M2 puts that influence on full display.
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